11/12/2006

Four contaminated with polonium

German police say that four people near Hamburg have been contaminated with polonium-210.

Dmitry Kovtun's former wife, her current partner and her two children have been contaminated with the radioactive substance used to poison Alexander Litvinenko.

Mr Kovtun met the former KGB agent at a London hotel on November 1, the day that he fell ill.

Traces of polonium-210 are also understood to have been found in Mr Kovtun's ex-wife's apartment in Hamburg.

British police are continuing to investigate the incident, with some officers currently in Moscow. It was reported that a British detective has now travelled to Hamburg.

It is not clear how Mr Kovtun became contaminated by the substance. He is being treated for radiation poisoning at a hospital in Moscow.

It has emerged that Russian investigators are to travel to London in order to question witnesses in the case.

However, friends of Mr Litvinenko are reported to be unlikely to assist their inquiry, while his widow, Marina, is reported to have said that she would not assist the Russian inquiry.

Mr Litvinenko died in a London hospital in November 23. A major dose of polonium 210 was found in his body.

Friends of the former KGB agent claimed that he had been poisoned because he was a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin's government.

However, the Kremlin has dismissed suggestions that it was behind his death as "sheer nonsense, while Russia's foreign intelligence service has also denied any involvement.

(KMcA/SP)

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